Turkiye quake revives debate over nuclear plant being built

The Associated Press
Published Feb. 16, 2023 10:11 a.m. MST

NICOSIA, CYPRUS -

A devastating earthquake that toppled buildings across parts of Turkiye and neighboring Syria has revived a longstanding debate locally and in neighboring Cyprus about a large nuclear power station being built on Turkiye's southern Mediterranean coastline.

The plant's site in Akkuyu, located some 210 miles (338 kilometers) and 245 miles (394 kilometers) to the west of the Feb. 6 tremors' epicenters, is being designed to endure powerful tremors and did not sustain any damage or experience powerful ground shaking from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks.

But the size of the quake -- the deadliest in Turkiye's modern history -- sharpened existing concerns about the facility being built on the edge of a major fault line.

Rosatom, Russia's state-owned company in charge of the project, says the power station is designed to "withstand extreme external influences" from a magnitude 9 earthquake. In nuclear power plant construction, plants are designed to survive shaking that is more extreme than what's been previously recorded in the area they're sited.

The possibility of a magnitude 9 earthquake occurring in the vicinity of the Akkuyu reactor "is approximately once every 10,000 years," Rosatom told The Associated Press via email last week. "That is exactly how the margin of safety concept is being implemented."

An official with Turkiye's Energy Ministry, when contacted by the AP, said there were no immediate plans to reassess the project. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol. Some activists, however, still say the project -- the first nuclear power plant in Turkiye -- poses a threat.

Nuclear facilities are constructed of heavily reinforced concrete, sized for significant earthquake shaking and far more robust than commercial buildings, said Andrew Whittaker, a professor of civil engineering at the University at Buffalo who is an expert in earthquake engineering and nuclear structures.

The fact that it's sited off the western end of the East Anatolian Fault, which was linked to last week's powerful tremor, suggests that the design would have been checked for significant shaking, Whittaker added.

Still, Whittaker said, it would be prudent to reassess seismic hazard calculations in the region for all infrastructure, including the plant.

"There's no reason to be concerned, but there's always a reason to be cautious," he said.

That's little comfort to activists in Turkiye and on both sides of ethnically divided Cyprus. They've renewed their calls for the project to be scrapped, saying that the devastating earthquake is clear proof of the great risk posed by a nuclear power plant near seismic fault lines.

In a statement to the AP, the Cyprus Anti-Nuclear platform, a coalition of over 50 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot environmentalist groups, trade unions and political parties, said it "calls on all political parties, scientific and environmental organizations and the civil society to join efforts and put pressure on the Turkish government to terminate its plans for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant."

Cypriot European Parliament member Demetris Papadakis asked the European Commission what immediate actions it intends to take to halt the plant because of the dangers posed by building a nuclear power station in a seismic zone so close to Cyprus.

Nuclear power plants worldwide are designed to withstand earthquakes and shut down safely in the event of major earth movement -- about 20 per cent of nuclear reactors are operating in areas of significant seismic activity, according to the World Nuclear Association.

For example, Japanese nuclear plants, including the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, are in regions where earthquakes of up to magnitude 8.5 may be expected, the association said. Stricter safety standards were adopted after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, when a tsunami crashed into the Daichi plant, melting three reactors and releasing dangerous levels of radiation. And the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California was designed to safely withstand earthquakes, tsunamis and flooding that could potentially occur in the region too, according to its operator.

Turkish nuclear regulators provided the license for the plant's construction in Akkuyu in 1976 following eight years of seismic studies to determine the most suitable location, but the project was slowed down after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. Construction of the first reactor started in 2018. Large nuclear power plants have traditionally taken a while to build because of the size, scale and complexity of the infrastructure, and delays associated with first-of-a-kind plants.

According to Rosatom, a study by Turkiye's Office for the Prevention and Elimination of Consequences of Emergency Situations indicates that the site in Akkuyu -- some 60 miles (95 kilometers) from Cyprus' northern coastline -- is located in the fifth degree earthquake zone, which is considered the safest region in terms of earthquakes.

The plant design includes an external reinforced concrete wall and internal protective shell made of "prestressed concrete," with metal cables stretched inside the concrete shell to give additional solidity to the structure, the company said. And the modern reactor design, Russia's VVER-1200, includes an additional safety feature -- a 144 ton steel cone called the "core catcher" that in an emergency, traps and cools any molten radioactive materials, Rosatom added.

The company emphasized that power units with VVER-1200 reactors comply with the post-Fukushima requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

There's a political dimension to qualms about the plant: Cyprus has accused Turkiye of augmenting the Turkish Cypriots' dependence on it in order to entrench the island's ethnic division. Turkiye has said it would supply the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the island with electricity through an undersea cable. A pipeline suspended a couple of hundred meters under the Mediterranean's surface is already supplying the north with water.

The plant, whose first of four reactors is scheduled to go online later this year, will have a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts of electricity, providing about 10 per cent of Turkiye's electricity needs. According to government figures, if the power plant started operating today, it could singlehandedly provide enough electricity for a city of about 15 million people, such as Istanbul, Rosatom added.

It's estimated to cost US$20 billion. Rosatom has a 99.2 per cent stake in the project, and is contracted to build, maintain, operate and decommission the plant.

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the under-construction Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Mersin province, Turkiye, Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

'No damage' reported at Akkuyu site after Turkey earthquakes

06 February 2023

Updated Tuesday 10:30 GMT: There have been no reports of damage to the Akkuyu nuclear power plant after two large earthquakes struck Turkey. Following safety checks, construction is continuing, the project team says.

There was a landmark construction moment last month which saw the inner containment dome installed in the design position at Akkuyu unit 1 (Image: Akkuyu Nuclear)

"Aftershocks of about 3.0 magnitude were felt here at the Akkuyu NPP site, but our specialists did not detect any damage to building structures, cranes, equipment," CEO of JSC Akkuyu Nuclear Anastasia Zoteeva said on Monday, according to a Reuters report citing a RIA news agency report.

"Nevertheless, we are carrying out extensive diagnostic measures to make sure that construction and installation operations can continue safely," she was reported to have added.

Later on Monday Russia's Tass news agency reported an update from a spokesperson for Akkuyu Nuclear, saying "specialists conducted a prompt, operational inspection of all buildings, structures, tower cranes, scaffolding and other structures under construction for deviations and damage. No damage was found as a result of the inspection. Construction and installation work continues."​

The International Atomic Energy Agency also tweeted on Monday afternoon about the situation, saying that: "As of now, no impact from earthquakes on nuclear safety & security in Türkiye, its Nuclear Regulatory Authority told IAEA."

The agency's tweet added there were "no issues so far related to radiological safety & security of radioactive sources, & the country's under construction nuclear power plant is unaffected".

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Gaziantep at about 04:30 local time. It was reported to be the biggest earthquake to hit the country in eight decades. As of Monday at 16:00 GMT there were 2,300 deaths confirmed in Turkey and Syria, with many more injured or missing. The Akkuyu nuclear power plant is being built about 430 kilometres to the west of the epicentre of the quake.

The Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. Construction of the first unit began in 2018, with startup planned for 2023. The 4800 MWe plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.

Nuclear power plants and earthquakes

Nuclear reactors are designed to be able to withstand natural hazards such as earthquakes. The Akkuyu plant has been designed with additional earthquake protection measures, its designers said in 2014, including the reactor building foundation slab designed to be "highly earthquake-resistant". Tass reports that the Akkuyu "project is designed to withstand a maximum earthquake of up to 9 on the Richter Scale".

World Nuclear Association's information paper on Nuclear Power Plants and Earthquakes says: "Reactors of both western and Soviet design have been subjected to major seismic activity in North America and Europe without damage. California's power reactors, San Onofre 2 and 3 and Diablo Canyon 1 and 2, continued to operate normally during the 6.6 magnitude earthquake in January 1994. San Onofre, the closer station, was about 112 km from the epicentre.

In December 1988, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, resulting in the deaths of at least 25,000 people, occurred in northwestern Armenia. It was felt at the two-unit Armenian nuclear power station located approximately 75 km south of the epicentre, but both Soviet-designed PWRs operated normally and no damage was reported. This was the first Russian nuclear power plant specifically adapted for seismic areas, and it started operating in 1976."

It also adds: "In April 2013 a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Iran caused no damage [to the Bushehr plant] according to Iran’s report to IAEA, though some cracking of concrete was later reported. The plant is designed to withstand magnitude 8 quakes."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News